The Omega Glory (episode)
The Enterprise discovers the derelict starship Exeter drifting in space, its entire crew killed by an unknown plague and her captain missing. Summary Teaser The discovers the starship in orbit upon arriving at the planet Omega IV. When Captain Kirk, Spock, McCoy, and Lieutenant Galloway beam over to the empty ship's engineering section to investigate, they discover the ship to be seemingly abandoned... only s; and some crystals remain. Act One Kirk uses the ship's intercom to raise anyone on board the ship. Spock hails Kirk and reports the same thing as in engineering, while Galloway reports all four of the Exeter s shuttlecraft are on board, proving the crew didn't leave that way. McCoy and Kirk then head to the Exeter s bridge and then order both men to meet them there. :"Captain's log. Aboard the USS ''Exeter, commanded by Ron Tracey, one of the most experienced captains in Starfleet. What could have happened to him, and the over 400 men and women who were on this ship?" Arriving at the ''Exeter s bridge, McCoy's analysis finds the crystals to be what was left of the crew with all the water removed. A tape left by the Exeter s ship's surgeon, Carter, reveals the crew was killed by a virus which was brought up to the ship by the landing party; only Captain Ronald Tracey remained alive by staying on the planet's surface. :(Log entry made by medical officer of the USS ''Exeter)'' "If you've come aboard this ship... you're dead men! Don't go back to your own ship. You have one chance. Get down there. Get down there fast. Captain Tracey is..." Kirk orders the landing party to beam down to the planet at once, and gazes down at the floor at the remains of the ship's surgeon. Once on the planet, they interrupt some natives about to behead another, and Captain Tracey, apparently in charge, calms them down and welcomes them. Captain Tracey has been living among the Kohms, an iron-age people engaged in a war with the Yangs, a seemingly primitive, savage and fierce tribal culture – one of whose leaders has just been taken captive. He informs them there is a natural immunity offered by the planet's environment – they will stay alive only as long as they remain on Omega IV. The landing party sets up in a building to contact the Enterprise, for McCoy to confirm the disease and Kirk to record a log entry. Kirk is disappointed that Tracey has apparently used Federation technology to assist the Kohms in their fight. Because of this, he has become something of a leader of the group, for which is a clear violation of Starfleet's Prime Directive of non-interference with developing civilizations. :"Captain's log, supplemental. The ''Enterprise has left the Exeter and has moved into close planet orbit. Although it appears the infection may strand us here the rest of our lives, I face an even more difficult problem – a growing belief that Captain Tracey has been interfering with the evolution of life on this planet. It seems impossible. A star captain's most solemn oath is that he will give his life, even his entire crew, rather than violate the Prime Directive." McCoy notes the similarity of the infection to some inflicted during biological warfare experiments on Earth in the 1990s. Suddenly, Spock and Galloway return, with Galloway critically injured from a Yang ambush. Spock confirms the viciousness of the Yangs, and that they are preparing to attack, however, Spock also finds an empty phaser pack, confirming he is using his technology to help the Kohms. Before Kirk can contact the Enterprise, Tracey enters, prevents him, and kills Galloway. Act Two The landing party is disarmed and Tracey makes Sulu think the landing party is indisposed. Tracey explains to Kirk alone that the Kohm people have no record of any kind of disease but possess extremely long lifespans, for example, his guard Wu is over 400 Earth years old, his father over 1,000 years. He wishes to use the resources of the ''Enterprise to isolate the cause for this "super-immunity", cure themselves and share it for a profit. To do this, he must keep the Yangs at bay, and asks for Kirk's help. Kirk instead tries to escape unsuccessfully, and is thrown into a cell with the savage and his woman from before, while Tracey plans to attack the Yangs. After a fierce fight, however, Kirk comes to realize that the Yangs worship concepts such as freedom and bear remarkable similarities to the native peoples of North America – the "North American Natives" – and helps the Yang prisoners escape. However, the male prisoner knocks Kirk unconscious with an iron bar while he and his female partner escape. Act Three Seven hours and eight minutes later, Kirk awakens and together he and Spock (who is in the next cell) get the keys to escape their cells. McCoy, conducting medical research in the meantime under guard, learns that both the super-immunity enjoyed by the Omega IV inhabitants, and the plague which killed the Exeter s crew are the results of biological warfare similar to experiments researched by Earth in the late twentieth century, in the 1990s. The plague still exists, but after this war, the planet's ecosystem developed powerful immunizing agents, essentially due to natural evolution. McCoy discovers that the longer a person stays on the planet, the more well-established the immunity; tragically, if the Exeter landing party had stayed on the planet just a few hours longer, no one would have died. Spock and Kirk subdue the guard and learn everything from McCoy. Since they are now cured of the plague, Kirk tells Spock to repair the transmitter so they can beam up to the Enterprise. Just as Spock is about to do so, the console is destroyed by a phaser blast, injuring him. Tracey stumbles into the room, trembling, and recounts how his Kohm force was routed by the Yangs, despite the thousands of Yangs that Tracey and his allies killed with their phasers. Tracey assumes that Kirk freed the Yang prisoner to warn the others of the attack. Kirk demands that Spock be beamed up to the Enterprise for medical attention. When Tracey objects that they are still infected, Kirk and McCoy furiously tell him that they are now immunized, there is no serum, and there is nothing that Tracey can "extract" that will excuse the atrocities he has committed. On being told that he has thrown away his crew, his career, and his honor for nothing, Tracey seems to lose what remains of his sanity. Focusing on the impending Yang attack, Tracey marches Kirk outside and tells him to call the Enterprise with his communicator and have it beam down more phasers. Kirk obligingly relays the request to Lieutenant Sulu, who says that he cannot do that without verification. Staring down the muzzle of Tracey's phaser, Kirk carefully says that the landing party is in danger. Sulu says that, if that is the case, then teams of armed volunteers are ready to beam down – which is the last thing Tracey wants. Kirk says the danger to the landing party is not imminent, and tells Sulu not to beam anyone else down, before flipping his communicator shut. Just as Tracey begins to understand that he is stymied, Kirk tries to overpower him, and the two men fight, only for them both to be taken prisoner by the Yangs. Kirk and Spock eventually realize that Omega IV's culture was an extremely close parallel of Earth's ("Yangs" is a mispronunciation of "Yankees", while "Kohms" originally were "Communists") except the Omegans fought the war Earth managed to avoid, and the Kohms took over the planet. The Yangs have been fighting to regain their land ever since; this is confirmed when the victorious Yangs bring in their battle standard – an ancient, tattered "stars and stripes" US flag. Act Four The Yang prisoner is Cloud William, their chief, and the "holy words" (which only a chief may speak) are a badly slurred version of the Pledge of Allegiance. Kirk interprets the Pledge and speaks the words himself, and begins to explain where he is from, but Tracey picks up on the theme and tries to turn the Yangs against Kirk by declaring he was "cast out of heaven" – pointing to Spock's appearance as similar to the appearance of the servant of "the evil one". To test Kirk, Cloud William reads from the "greatest of holies" and challenges Kirk to translate or else Spock is killed. Unable to initially translate, Kirk counters that their sacred legends promise that good is stronger than evil, and fights Tracey man-to-man to prove it. badly mangles the Pledge of Allegiance]] While the fight takes place, Spock uses his telepathic abilities to get Cloud William's mate, to use one of the communicators, after which a landing party of volunteers from the Enterprise, led by Lieutenant Sulu, beams down armed with phasers to take control of the situation. Fortunately, Kirk wins the fight with Tracey anyway. Seeing these events, Cloud William believes Kirk to be God's servant. Kirk informs the Yangs that the "holy words" were not merely written for chiefs, but for everyone, even the Kohms. He reads the "greatest of holies" – the preamble to the Constitution of the United States of America, and tells Cloud William the words must apply to everyone or they are meaningless. Cloud William does not understand the meaning behind Kirk's words, but promises that he will obey the "holy words." When Spock asks Kirk if his actions do not also violate the Prime Directive, Kirk explains he was simply explaining the meaning of what they were fighting for... as all the Yangs read the Constitution. Before leaving Omega IV, Kirk glances at the torn and tattered US flag. Memorable quotes "If you've come aboard this ship, you're dead men." : - Carter, chief medical officer of the Exeter in a recorded message "A star captain's most solemn oath is that he will give his life, even his entire crew, rather than violate the Prime Directive." : - Excerpt from Kirk s log entry, on Tracey's actions "Keep trying, captain. Their behavior is highly illogical." "No point in repeating that it's illogical, Spock. I'm – quite aware of it." : - Spock, as Kirk is being choked by Cloud William in his cell "Pity you can't teach me that." "I have tried, captain." : - Kirk and Spock, on the Vulcan nerve pinch "No native to this planet has ever had any trace of any kind of disease. How long would a man live if all disease were erased, Jim? Wu!" (Wu enters) "Tell Captain Kirk your age." "Age? Well, I have seen 42 years of the red bird. My eldest brother is..." "Their year of the red bird comes once every 11 years, which he's seen 42 times. Multiply it. Wu is 462 years old. His father is well over a thousand. Interested, Jim?" : - Ronald Tracey and Wu "Freedom? Freedom? That is a worship word. Yang worship. You will not speak it." : - Cloud William, after he hears Kirk say "freedom" "Who knows? It might one day cure the common cold, but lengthen lives? Poppycock! I can do more for you if you just eat right and exercise regularly." : - McCoy, on why the Kohms' "super-immunity" has nothing to do with their longevity "They sacrificed hundreds just to draw us out in the open. And then they came, and they came. We drained four of our phasers, and they still came. We killed thousands and they still came!" : - Tracey, on slaughtering the Yangs "There's no serum! There are no miracles! There's no immortality here! All this is for nothing!" : - Kirk to Tracey, on the search for Human longevity "Ay plegli ianectu flaggen, tupep like for stahn –" "And to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all." : - Cloud William and Kirk, both reciting the Pledge of Allegiance "Spock, I've found that evil usually triumphs unless good is very, very careful." : - McCoy, as Kirk and Tracey prepare to duel "What are you doing?" "I'm making a suggestion." : - McCoy and Spock, as Spock uses his mental powers on Sirah "They must apply to everyone or they mean nothing!" : - Kirk to Cloud William, on the Holy Words "Liberty and freedom have to be more than just words." : - Kirk, before departing Omega IV Background information Story and script * This was one of three draft stories considered for the second pilot of the series, first draft . The other unchosen draft was . was the script eventually selected. (The Star Trek Compendium, p. 17) "The Omega Glory" was filmed in middle and late December 1967. * The original 1965 script draft named the missing starship as the USS Argentina. The Enterprise landing party consisted of Kirk, Spock, a young navigator named Lieutenant Commander Piper, a helmsman called Lieutenant Phil Raintree, and the ship's doctor named Milton Perry. The latter two were killed during the actions on the surface. At the climax, Kirk fought Tracey in a western-style gunfight, during which Tracey shot Spock twice. However, he survived, because of the different anatomy of Vulcans (his heart not being in his chest). The first draft also featured a comic relief of the Enterprise computer having a female personality, an aspect which was eventually used in . (The Star Trek Compendium, p. 100) In his novelization of the episode in Star Trek 10, James Blish uses the Raintree character in place of Galloway. * Spock attempting to telepathically "suggest" to pick up the communicator, was reminiscent of the early concepts that Spock has special powers over women. (The Star Trek Compendium, p. 100) * Roddenberry originally wanted to produce this episode early in the first season, along with "Mudd's Women", but NBC thought the script was weak and ordered the staff to 'shelve' it for an indefinite time to be possibly reworked and produced later on. Despite NBC still objecting against it, Roddenberry finally had his way to make "The Omega Glory" during late in the second season. (Inside Star Trek: The Real Story, These Are the Voyages: TOS Season Two) * Husband and wife writing team Les and Tina Pine were assigned by Roddenberry to write a teleplay based on his previous outlines and scripts; however, their finished product was not up to the producers' standards, and Roddenberry decided to develop the project further himself. (These Are the Voyages: TOS Season Two) * A letter reprinted in Inside Star Trek: The Real Story reveals that Roddenberry personally submitted his teleplay for consideration for an Emmy Award. * Robert Justman wrote a long memo to Roddenberry, in which he pointed out the flaws of the episode's script, but he thought it was too devastating, and tore it up, and made a few suggestions orally instead. "Roddenberry took the advice, but as anyone who has seen the episode knows, it didn't do much good". (Inside Star Trek: The Real Story, p. 137) * Another McCoy-Spock debate was filmed for this episode, but edited. Just before the landing party left the Yangs' flag room, Kirk cut short an argument which seems to be about nothing. The reason McCoy and Spock were in an argument was cut from the episode. The dialogue excised from the final print was as follows (taken from the final draft shooting script for the episode): ** McCoy: Jim, the parallel's too close. They seem so completely Human. Is it possible that... ? ** Kirk: The result of Earth's early space race? ** Spock: Quite possible, captain. They are aggressive enough to be Human. ** McCoy: Now listen, Spock, you... * A fairly lengthy scene from the final shooting script was edited from the final print of this episode. Soon after the landing party arrived on Omega IV, Kirk directly confronted Tracey about the possibility of his having violated the Prime Directive and Tracey attempted to defend his actions. Tracey also displayed open hostility towards Spock during this scene, revealing his dislike of Vulcans. James Blish does write up the scene in his adaptation of the episode in Star Trek 10. * While analyzing the crystals into which the Exeter s crew have dissolved, McCoy says that we are all about 96% water. The actual figure is closer to 70%. Reception * According to author Daniel Leonard Bernardi, "Like the Federation, the Comms have full command of the English language (although they speak with a homogenized 'Asian' accent). The beginning of the episode thus shows that those with white skin can be uncivilized savages and those with yellow skin can be civilized and rational ... This would be counter to the hegemonic representation of Asians in the United States media; that diverse collective of peoples are consistently constructed in film and television as a menacing 'yellow horde'." Bernardi goes on to say: " The Omega Glory' is not, however, a counter-hegemonic episode. In fact, the episode not only reveals an unwillingness to be critical of the hegemony of racist representations, but also systematically participates in the stereotyping of Asians. As the story progresses, the Yangs are constructed as noble savages; their cause to annihilate the Comms is established as justified. The Comms, on the other hand, are constructed as brutal and oppressive; their drive to suppress the Yangs is established as totalitarian. This more hegemonic articulation of race is made evident when Kirk and Spock realize the extent to which the Yangs and Comms parallel Earth's civilizations. In this light, the Yangs are no longer savages, but noble warriors fighting for a just and honorable cause. They want to regain the land they lost in a war with the Asiatics." (Star Trek and History: Race-ing Toward a White Future, pp. 57-58) Continuity * In this episode, the visits another world possessing a parallel-Earth culture. Other such examples include and . There are also Earth cultures in , , , and , but they were introduced deliberately or accidentally and did not originate organically. * This is the second of three times the Enterprise encounters another starship with the entire crew dead. The other two were in and . * It is learned that the Exeter had a standard complement of four shuttlecraft. During the search for survivors, Galloway informed Kirk that "all four of the craft" were still on the hangar deck. Whether all Constitution-class vessels were equipped with that number of shuttles is not made clear. * This is the first time the chief medical officer of another Federation starship, Dr. Carter, is seen. Although he is sitting in the command chair on the bridge, it is unclear if he is in command of the Exeter or is merely recording his warning. Not until Dr. Crusher was placed in command of the in would a doctor clearly be in command of a starship. (Dr. Crusher was technically in command in when she was the only crewmember left; however, since it wasn't the real Enterprise, it cannot be counted.) * This episode marks the first and only time in the original series that reference is made to phaser "power packs." Production * Roy Jenson's voice was electronically altered for this episode. The preview for the episode contains unaltered dialogue for Cloud William which doesn't have the "slowed down" effect. * Fred Steiner arranged the "Star-Spangled Banner" motifs for this episode. (The Star Trek Compendium) * Identical female screams are heard in this episode and in and . * The shot of Sulu manning the helm station with an empty captain's chair in the background in mid-Act One is recycled from . * One of the places on the Exeter seen empty during Kirk's intercom hail is engineering. Curiously, that's the location of the landing party. * NBC announced that Star Trek would be renewed for a third season during the closing credits of this episode, on . In the announcement, they also wrote "Please do not send any more letters", responding to the vast amount of mail received during the protests organized by Roddenberry and Bjo Trimble. (Inside Star Trek: The Real Story, p. 386) Cast and characters * James Doohan (Scotty) and Walter Koenig (Pavel Chekov) do not appear in this episode. * Morgan Woodward ( Captain Ronald Tracey) had previously played another wild-eyed madman, Simon Van Gelder in . * Despite Galloway's demise in this episode, David L. Ross returned as Lieutenant Johnson in and as Galloway once more in . No explanation was given for the resurrection. According to Ross in the unauthorized biography of William Shatner, Gene Roddenberry wanted him to appear regularly in the series, but Ross was not interested in that much acting. * Ed McCready makes yet another appearance on Star Trek as the ill-fated Doctor Carter. McCready appeared numerous times in all three seasons of the show in short bit roles. Dr. Carter was originally going to be shown dissolving on camera. (The Star Trek Compendium) * The Kohm guarding Dr. McCoy can be seen in green coveralls in , both in the corridor and in the turbolift, and as one of the miners in . He can also be seen extensively as a background character in many episodes of Kung Fu and Hawaii Five-O. Other information * It is not made clear that Sulu and the landing party must remain on the surface of Omega IV for a certain duration before they can safely return to the Enterprise. * This was the first of five Star Trek projects to be adapted into View-Master reels. In a duplicate of one of the shots from the episode taking place at the communication station on the bridge, George Takei is taking advantage of the time for the View-Master shots to study his script: you can see it open on the console in front of him as he sits in Nichelle Nichols' chair and she stands next to him looking down at him. Production timeline * Story outline by Gene Roddenberry: * Revised story outline: 23 April 1965 * Second revised story outline: 25 April 1965 * First draft teleplay: 28 April 1965 * Revised first draft: * Second draft teleplay: * First draft teleplay by Les Pine and Tina Pine: * First draft teleplay by Roddenberry: * Second draft teleplay by Roddenberry: late-November 1967 * Final draft teleplay: * Revised final draft: 15 December 1967 * Additional page revisions by John Meredyth Lucas: 18 December 1967, 19 December 1967, 20 December 1967 * Filmed: 15 December 1967 – 26 December 1967 * Score recorded: 22 December 1967 * Original airdate: * Rerun airdate: * First UK airdate: Remastered information File:USS Exeter orbiting Omega IV, on screen.jpg|The Exeter in orbit, on screen File:Omega IV Exeter.jpg|The original version of the Enterprise encounter with File:Omega IV Exeter remastered.jpg|The Enterprise encounter with Exeter, after remastering File:Omega IV remastered.jpg|Omega IV remastered as more Earth-like The remastered version of "The Omega Glory" aired in many North American markets during the weekend of . The episode included dramatic new effects shots of the Enterprise and the Exeter in orbit of a more Earth-like, computer-generated Omega IV. Among the fine details inserted into the show, a small glimpse of the Exeter appears on the Enterprise viewscreen as it approaches the planet at the start of the episode. Apocrypha * In the novel Forged in Fire Sulu's presence in the landing party which rescued Kirk, Spock and McCoy would turn out to be fortuitous – having assisted Kang, Kor, and Koloth in their hunt for The Albino, disobeying orders from Starfleet Command in doing so, Sulu is also infected with the blood oath-spawning genetic virus (actually a retrovirus, which is why it was the children of the Klingons who were killed), but because bacteriological elements from Omega IV, to which Sulu had become immune, were a key component of the virus, it did not affect him as intended. * Another novel, Forgotten History, postulates that the natives of Omega IV are not human, and that the copies of the Constitution and American flag were left behind by an Earth Cargo Service freighter, the ECS Philadelphia (whose crew left the artifacts on Omega IV to inspire the Yangs in their fight for freedom). The artifacts shown in the episode actually could not have been thousands of years old, as the natives said they were, as the paper and fabric would have long since crumbled into dust from age. (Unless their years are shorter than Earth years) Video and DVD releases * Original US Betamax release: * UK VHS release (two-episode tapes, CIC Video): Volume 28, catalog number VHR 2380, * US VHS release: * UK re-release (three-episode tapes, CIC Video): Volume 2.9, * Original US DVD release (single-disc): Volume 27, * As part of the TOS Season 2 DVD collection Links and references Starring * William Shatner as Capt. Kirk Also starring * Leonard Nimoy as Mr. Spock ;And * DeForest Kelley as Dr. McCoy Guest star * Morgan Woodward as Captain Tracey Also starring * Roy Jenson as Cloud William * George Takei as Sulu * Nichelle Nichols as Uhura * Irene Kelly as * Morgan Farley as a Yang scholar * David L. Ross as Lt. Galloway * Lloyd Kino as Wu * Ed McCready as Dr. Carter * Frank Atienza as Kohn Villager Uncredited co-stars * William Blackburn as Hadley * Frank da Vinci as Vinci * Eddie Paskey as Leslie * Unknown actors as ** Lieutenant ** Security guard References 1990s; American Indian; Asiatic; auto-navigation; ax; bacteriology; blood-analyzer unit; "Bones"; bow; calcium; carbon; chief; common cold; Communist; Connecticut; Darius; ; delirium; Earth; evil; Evil One; exercise; ; fever; fire box; Fountain of Youth; Georgia; God; good; governor; Haggai; hangar deck; heart; Holy Word; Jerusalem; Josedech; Joshua; Judah; king; Kohm; lance; logic; Massachusetts; Maryland; medi-scanner; meter; ; New Hampshire; New Jersey; New York; North Carolina; Omega IV; Omega IV virus; Omega IV native; Pennsylvania; phosphorus; potassium; pound; power pack; Prime Directive; republic; Rhode Island; skin; Shealtiel; shuttlecraft; South Carolina; star captain; Starfleet Regulation 7; tribe; United States Congress; United States Constitution; United States of America; Virginia; Vulcan; Vulcan nerve pinch; warrior; water; Yang; Yankee; Year of the Red Bird; Zerubbabel; Zion External links * * * * |next= |lastair= |nextair= |lastair_remastered= |nextair_remastered= }} de:Das Jahr des roten Vogels es:The Omega Glory fr:The Omega Glory (épisode) ja:細菌戦争の果て（エピソード） nl:The Omega Glory pl:The Omega Glory Omega Glory, The